The word of God this Sunday has meaning for “us men and women who wear the Tau, a sign of our ongoing conversion,” as proclaimed “in our profession,” Fr. Carlos Ginés C. Julve, TOR, told Chapter attendees during mass Nov. 10.
It tells us that in the midst of need, as the widow of Zarephath experienced, “when you are more generous, you will be able to experience how good God is, who does not abandon any of his children,” he said. “Trust in the midst of scarcity is the gateway to God’s overabundance.”
It’s a model for an Order that encourages detachment from material things, he noted. That attitude of not living in superficiality allows Franciscans to see as Jesus did.
“How and where do we learn to look with the gaze of Jesus? There is only one way that never fails: by looking at Him in our prayer and contemplation. Prayer will serve to open our eyes to what is most human, most noble and beautiful, most divine in the world, in every man and woman, in every brother and sister.”
Friar Carlos is a general spiritual assistant for the Secular Franciscan Order and president-in-turn of the Conference of Spiritual Assistants (CAS).